


The Look Part 2

by jupiter23



Series: The Look [2]
Category: Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: I'm evil and I know it, M/M, made with 300 percent more pining than the first fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-24
Updated: 2018-12-24
Packaged: 2019-09-25 22:53:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,455
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17130230
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jupiter23/pseuds/jupiter23
Summary: Gil is up late working when he goes to the tech lab in search of a missing tool. There, he finds Scott in the middle of a nightmare.





	The Look Part 2

**Author's Note:**

> Merry Christmas and Happy Yule to the Gilder/MEA fandom!

Gil huffed in annoyance as he finished searching the last corner of the cargo bay. He’d already torn apart engineering, and his hot patch gun was nowhere to be found. And he distinctly remembered putting it away with the rest of his tools. The only conclusion to be drawn, then, was that someone else had taken it.

Seriously, though? This was the second one he’d built after his first one started getting passed around by the rest of the crew. They had one to fight over, why did they need this one, too? And he really didn’t want to trouble Vetra to find the parts to build a new one. He especially wasn’t waking Vetra in the middle of the night cycle to have her start hunting down the parts he needed on the black market, so that left him searching the ship.

Oh, well. It wasn’t like he didn’t have the time. Another bout of insomnia left him looking for something to do that didn’t involve tossing and turning in his bunk, waking everyone else up while he tried to convince his brain to shut off for a little while and go to sleep. So he’d gone first to engineering to get some work done, and then into the cargo bay to do some maintenance on the Nomad.

(And it was something of a miracle that Liam didn’t wake up, yelling and cursing at all the noise Gil was making. Despite the fact that he was doing the quietest tasks he could find to do, tools and machinery could still be loud, and engine noises were still engine noises. Maybe Lexi finally convinced Liam to invest in earplugs…)

Rolling his eyes, Gil headed for the ladder that would take him to the second level and in the direction of the R&D room. Since they’d left the Nexus, they’d headed for a remote corner of the Heleus Cluster to survey some planetary systems. And since they wouldn’t be leaving the ship, Drack and Cora had taken the opportunity to gather up every weapon on the ship for cleaning.

Gil stuck to searching the R&D table visually. Even though several guns were still lying disassembled across the table, he didn’t know how to handle them and didn’t want to risk setting one off by accident.

However, it didn’t matter. His hot-patch gun wasn’t there.

Planting his hands on his hips, he looked around for an idea of where to look next. There was the storage room Liam had claimed for himself. However, Gil dismissed that idea immediately. Liam never took his tools without asking first. He could also rule out the med-bay, since Lexi would also ask on the rare occasion she needed anything. The bio-lab was also out, since Cora never did any technical work in there—something about it being bad for the plants. And there was no need to go to the bridge, since Kallo was anal to a fault about keeping the place tidy. There was also the armory where Vetra had set up her office, but Vetra would also put back whatever she’d borrowed.

That left the crew quarters, which would be his last resort. If he couldn’t find his missing hot-patch gun, he’d go in there and search for it— _loudly_. There was also the galley and the escape pod PeeBee lived in. Then his eyes fell on the tech lab.

And there Gil hesitated. A couple of weeks ago when his sister had snuck him onboard, the younger-by-one-minute of the Ryder twins had taken over Jaal’s bed in the tech lab, since Jaal was now living in the Pathfinder’s quarters with Sara and there was a shortage of beds in the crew quarters.

Scott Ryder was, without a doubt, one of the most beautiful men Gil had ever seen in his life. Of course, he had already thought that before they’d officially met. Sara had showed him dozens of pictures of the two of them together, and there were even a few of the two of them with either one or both of their parents. But then there was that day on the Nexus, when they’d exchanged that _look_ that Gil was still confused about (and that everyone else was _still_ teasing him about.) He’d very rapidly determined that old photographs didn’t do the man justice.

Then, over the last couple of weeks, they’d had a lot of time to get to know one another. Sara had decided to change up their schedule a bit and survey those systems first before heading to H-047c, and Gil had the sneaking suspicion that she was trying to use being as far away as possible as an excuse to not answer repeated calls from the Nexus or the _Hyperion_ about where her brother was or when they planned to bring him back. She’d even somehow managed to get SAM in on the ruse, having him make the claim that interference from one source or another was slowing down comm traffic. And as the two of them spent more time with one another, Gil found that Scott had a beautiful soul to go with that beautiful face.

Okay, so _maybe_ he had a crush on him. Not that he’d admit it to anyone else at this point. But that was also one of the reasons why he didn’t want to just barge into the tech lab. While he was dying of curiosity to know what Scott looked like while he was sleeping, Gil Brodie was also no stalker. Besides, he didn’t want to risk waking him up.

But one of his tools was still missing, and he was still not feeling any closer to the realm of tired enough to sleep.

A quick look, then. A cursory once-over just like the one he’d given the R&D table, and then he’d leave. Hopefully without disturbing Scott.

His mind made up, Gil strode quietly to the door. It slid open just as quietly, and he hurried in.

Once inside, he had to pause for a few seconds to let his eyes adjust. The room was lit only by the few computer terminals and panels that were always on. It was just enough to see by, though, and he almost immediately spied his missing hot patch gun lying on a work bench.

As he moved to grab it, however, a sudden gasp from the bed drew his attention. Gil turned towards it, an apology ready on his lips. It was unnecessary, however. Scott was still asleep.

Before Gil could turn back to the work bench, Scott let out a distressed moan and thrashed. That was when Gil noticed the fear twisting his face, despite the fact that his eyes were still shut.

“Lemme go,” he groaned out, thrashing yet again.

 _Shit_ , he was in the middle of a nightmare. And there was absolutely no way Gil was leaving him like that.

He quickly sorted through his options. He could call Sara and Lexi. But Scott wasn’t the type that liked being fussed over, which is what Sara was likely to do, and Lexi would try to make him take some kind of medication, which would lead to an argument that Gil had the feeling could go on for hours, since he also knew Scott was tired of doctors. And he wasn’t going to embarrass Scott by calling anyone else.

No, he’d handle this himself. He was fully capable of keeping something like this to himself, unless Scott wanted people to know.

Perching on the edge of the bed, Gil grabbed Scott by the shoulders and shook him. “Ryder?” he tried.

His only answer was another bout of moaning and flailing.

“Ryder, come on, wake up,” he called.

“Sara…Sara—it hurts…” Scott cried out, tears leaking out from under his eyelids.

Gil ignored the way the plea tore at his heart and shook Scott again. “Ryder… _Scott!_ ”

At the sound of his name, Scott snapped awake and bolted halfway up, panting and looking around wildly.

“It’s okay, you’re safe,” Gil hastened to reassure him, one hand still on his shoulder. “You were just dreaming.”

“Gil, what…?” Scott’s eyes had finally landed on him and his breathing started to slow down.

“Sorry,” Gil apologized. “I was looking for a missing tool when I found you, well…”

“Shit,” Scott muttered as his confusion finally cleared away. He sat up fully and scrubbed at his face with both hands. “I’m sorry…”

“No need to apologize,” Gil said. Scott only glanced up at him and nodded, then averted his gaze back to the blankets tangled around his waist. That was when it occurred to him that his hand was still on Scott’s shoulder. When he started to pull it away, however, Scott’s hand shot up, fingers wrapping around his wrist.

He seemed just as surprised as Gil was by the action, and he let go of his arm almost as fast as he’d grabbed it. “Sorry,” he muttered again.

Gil decided to leave it alone and change the subject. “You have nightmares all the time?” he asked.

“Only since that whole business with the Archon,” Scott said. “Harry tried to give me something to help me sleep, but the last thing I want is to be doped up.”

“I totally understand. I never cared for sleeping pills myself,” Gil said. “I prefer working until I’m too tired to go on.”

“That’s right, Sara said you had…” Scott trailed off.

“Insomnia,” Gil supplied. “It’s fine, I don’t mind if you say it. It may not be good for my health, but I _do_ get a lot done.”

“Including writing terrible poetry?” Scott said, a smirk pulling at his lips.

Gil groaned. “I can’t believe your sister told you about that, too.”

“She forwarded it to me! She said she thought it might make me laugh. Which it did, by the way,” Scott said with a chuckle. Gil couldn’t help laughing with him; Scott Ryder had a really nice smile…

“Happy to help, even if I didn’t know I was,” Gil said. They both laughed again, and then fell into silence.

“So, umm…”Gil started after a minute, when the silence started to turn awkward. “Do you…uh…want to talk about it, maybe?”

“I…I don’t know, to be honest,” Scott answered, his gaze turning to his lap again. “If I talk to Lexi, she’ll get all clinical, and if I talk to Sara, she’ll turn into a mother hen and probably make me talk to Lexi, but I really don’t want to burden anyone else with my problems…”

“I won’t tell anyone if you don’t want me to,” Gil promised. “But I won’t make you do anything you don’t want to do, either.”

Scott glanced back up at him and blinked a couple of times, then back to his lap. “I…I was back in the remnant city…with the Archon…” He stopped to draw in a steadying breath, and Gil remained patiently silent.

Scott drew in another deep breath, and then continued, his eyes sliding shut as he spoke. “It hurt. It hurt so much…I wanted it to stop, but I couldn’t…I couldn’t let him…”

“You didn’t,” Gil insisted, his hand coming back up to Scott’s shoulder. “We’re all still alive thanks to you.”

Scott laid his hand over Gil’s and nodded. Then he looked up, and their eyes met.

And held…

And he could have sworn Scott’s eyes had gotten a shade or two darker…

And Gil glanced down at his lips…

Then he cleared his throat and gave himself a mental shake. Now was definitely _not_ the time for that.

“I—I should probably…leave you to get some rest…” he said weakly, pulling his hand off of Scott’s shoulder again and starting to get up.

“No!” Scott yelped, then shook his head and tried again. “I—I mean, can you…do you mind—damn, this is childish…” He ran a hand through his hair. “It’s just…I don’t want to be alone right now…”

There was no argument to be had. There was no way Gil could just leave him by himself after that. In answer, Gil laid down next to him.

Scott smiled gratefully at him, and then laid down as well, tucking himself under Gil’s arm and laying his head on his chest.

Gil blinked down at him in mild astonishment, and then smiled and pulled his arms around Scott’s shoulders. He could definitely get used to this.

“Mmmm…you smell nice,” Scott murmured, his voice already heavy with sleep.

Gil’s smile grew broader. “Go to sleep,” he murmured back.

 

Jaal gave a languid stretch as the door to the Pathfinder’s quarters closed behind him. He’d left Sara sleeping soundly, although he’d left rather reluctantly. He loved watching her sleep—the way she was entirely at peace, no sign of the underlying strain she usually showed that came from her duties as Pathfinder...

But he’d had some projects in the tech lab he wanted to finish, and he wanted to make sure he had them done before their next stop at Aya. Besides which, he still needed to return Gil’s hot patch gun to engineering. He’d felt guilty when he’d woken up not long ago and remembered that it was still lying on his work bench. But Gil would likely forgive him if he brought it back before he really needed it for something.

Bidding Suvi a good morning as she emerged from the bathroom and headed for the galley for her customary cup of coffee, Jaal climbed the ladder and headed for the tech lab. He passed the R&D table, where Cora and Drack had resumed their work cleaning everyone’s weapons, and greeted them as well.

However, he was brought up short as the door to the tech lab closed behind him.

There, on his old bed in the back of the lab, lay Gil and Scott. Scott was draped over Gil’s chest, and Gil had both arms around him. Both of them were sound asleep.

Jaal recovered from his shock after a moment and activated his omni-tool. He then snapped a photograph of the sleeping couple and immediately sent it to Sara. None of them had missed the way Gil and Scott looked at each other when they thought no one else was paying attention, and Sara still worried about her brother. SAM had accessed Scott’s medical records, which showed that he was still suffering some repercussions from the battle with the kett, including sleeplessness and nightmares. She’d be happier than any of them to see that her brother was well-cared for.

Smiling and shaking his head, he closed his omni-tool and left the tech lab.


End file.
